


The Good Ol' College Try

by lalaluma



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Keith and Shiro are Siblings, M/M, Male Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-21
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-12-04 20:18:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11562591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lalaluma/pseuds/lalaluma
Summary: Keith just wants a normal college experience, but Lance won't stop breaking into his dorm.





	1. staring down the barrel of a loaded night

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on this video:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvKgw1NnJJ4
> 
> Because I can't watch anything without making it a Voltron AU.

Keith had been staying in the freshman dorms for about 2 months without any issues when suddenly Lance was thrust into his life.

 

The thing was, Keith thought he’d gotten lucky. His dorm had two rooms, but he had no roommate, so he just used the extra room for storage and had vague plans of making it a gaming room. He’s on the first floor in the corner, so he only has to worry about noise coming from the room to his right seeing as it’s a stairwell above him.

 

Keith was coming home to his lucky little square of the world at about 4 am, having been out at one of his brother's frat parties, beyond ready to call it a night. Parties drained him like nothing else, and so it’s no wonder he fails to notice the door was unlocked. He figures he’d just left it that way. He didn’t.

 

There’s also a set of keys he thinks nothing of sitting disheveled on his counter he completely misses, but he’d have to be blind to not notice the coat haphazardly draped over the back of one of his chairs. There is an intruder. Keith keeps a hand on his pocket knife as he rounds the corner. Down the hall that leads to his room and the bathroom there are also small piles that appear to be pants, shoes, and a shirt.

 

Keith begins internally screaming over the potential nudity of his intruder. He presses on.

 

He hopes beyond hope that he will find the intruder in the bathroom, but as he pushes the door open he finds it just as he left it aside from a bottle of lotion Keith had never touched being knocked over. Fuck. 

 

Sure enough, the bedroom door is cracked open. Holding his breath and his knife, Keith throws the door open to find...an upperclassman. In his bed. Passed the fuck out. Keith recognizes him from around the halls, but can’t think of any classes they have together.

 

“Hey,” Keith calls in a reasonable tone. Nothing.

 

“Hey!” He says louder, but is still trying to be nice to his neighbors but this guy is out cold.

 

“ **_Hey!_ ** ” Keith punctuates with a kick to the intruder's side. “Wake up, asshole!”

 

This seems to work as the upperclassman rouses, sitting up on his elbows and rubbing impossibly blue eyes. “...what are you doing here?”

 

He’s drunk.

 

“I live here!” Keith spits. “What are  _ you _ doing here?”

 

“...nuh uh, I live here. This is my bed,” he pats the bed as if this proves his point.

“Really?” Keith is bordering on furious as he flips on the light switch. “Does any of this look like your stuff?”

 

“Woah, what…” the upperclassman says sounding as if he’s impressed by some great prank being pulled on him. “What happened to my room?”

 

“It’s not your room! How did you even get in here?”

 

The intruder looked like he might fall back asleep. “I used my key.”

 

Keith was getting increasingly more irritated, but even more tired, so he tried for helpful instead. “Look, this obviously isn’t your dorm, where do you live?”

 

The upperclassman sounded sad but frustrated when he said “Here.”

 

Keith just barely keeps himself from screaming. “Can I at least get you to move to the other bed?”

 

He squints at Keith, looking offended. “No, that’s Hunk’s bed.”

 

It was time for a good old fashioned fuck it adjustment. The intruder clearly wasn’t going to leave and Keith was too tired to move him. “ _ Fine _ . Move over.”

 

He does, surprisingly. Keith kicks off his shoes, climbs into bed fully clothed, and curls up. All is quiet and good and Keith thinks he might actually get some sleep before his class tomorrow when he hears a soft “...huh.”

 

“Please,” Keith begs. “I have class in the morning, and a test in the afternoon. I need every second of sleep I can get. Please, please shut up.”

 

“Yeah, alright,” He agrees. And for about thirty seconds, he keeps that up. “I just didn’t realize you were so hot. You were blurry from far away.”

 

And that's enough of that.

 

Keith gets up, yanks his pillow out from under the upperclassman, and stomps out to the living room to sleep on the couch.

 

He wakes up stiff and with a nearly dead phone from being off the charger all night. He grabs it and goes into his room to find last night’s intruder still sleeping comfortably in his bed. Keith briefly entertains the idea of smothering him right here and now. Instead, he attaches his phone to its charger, grabs a change of clothes and a shower, and ends up leaving without eating to make it to his class on time.

He’s starving and exhausted by the time he comes back, ready to eat and maybe have a quick nap before his afternoon test, and finds a pleasant surprise: hot food waiting on his counter. There’s a note written on one of Keith’s sticky notes waiting for him, too.

 

_ Sorry I kind of took over your bed. I had this dorm last year and never returned the key. Oops. But hey! Silver lining, I made you food! Totally makes up for it. _

_ -Lance _

 

Keith couldn’t help but notice the lack of any key with the note and the food, and hopes that Lance turned it in.

 

He didn’t.


	2. Laugh until we think we'll die, barefoot on a summer night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance breaks in again, sober this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lyrics for the first chapter title were from All Time Low - Do you want me (Dead)?  
> This chapter is Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros - Home

Life is normal for like two weeks, which is nice because hooray no uninvited visitors stealing his bed, but is simultaneously a shame because that sorry-for-breaking-and-entering chowder was literally the best thing Keith had ever put in his mouth. So Keith was pretty conflicted when he came home to find a visibly upset Lance on his couch.

 

“Hey, uh,”  Lance stands suddenly, stumbling over his own long limbs momentarily. “Do you have class tomorrow?”

 

Keith really  _ wants _ to lie, but Lance looks down right pathetic. “...no.”

 

“Cool. Do you wanna get shwasted and watch movies? I’ll even order pizza.”

 

They do say yesterday’s enemies are today’s friends. Plus free pizza and booze. “...yes.”

 

Lance orders the pizza, even getting pineapple and ham on one half for Keith despite bold claims that it was “disgusting” and “a spit in the face of pizza everywhere”, and he picks up alcohol and mixers while he’s out.

 

When he gets back he makes them both a rum and coke and pulls up Netflix. “How about a classic to start--Lilo and Stitch?”

 

Keith actually grins at that, and suddenly Lance finds his world melting. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

 

They finish the movie (with plenty of stolen glances on Lance’s part), most of the pizza, and 3 rum and cokes each with a little egging each other on in the spirit of friendly competition and the united effort to get drunk, when Lance admits he has a confession as to why he’s here.

 

“My girlfriend dumped me today.”

“Oh, um--”

 

“Nah, you don’t have to say anything,” Lance brushes off the suggestion with a wave of his hand. He’s starting to feel the warmth of the rum and shrugs off his jacket. “You don’t really know me. She was kind of terrible, looking back anyway. So,” He tosses his hands up in a what-are-you-going-to-do gesture.

 

Keith sat awkwardly, squirming a bit. He was never good with this stuff. This stuff being most human emotions. “...wouldn’t you rather do this,” he motioned towards everything: the mostly eaten pizza, the red solo cups, the tv. “With friends?”

 

Lance shrugs, picking at his fingernails. “Hunk is gone for the next week, and Pidge is not only straight-edge but also like, twelve. And that’s the end of the list.”

 

The silence while Lance gets up to get them new drinks is deafening.

 

“Besides, I kind of still owe you for not like, calling campus security on me.”

 

Keith snorts as he accepts his drink. A sip reveals this set has significantly more rum in it, and he scrunches his nose but drinks anyway. “Yeah, you do. We’re going back to your dorm where I’ll take over and  _ you _ will have to sleep on the couch.”

 

“Bitch, if you think I won’t cuddle.”

 

Next were both Avengers movies, more drinks, and a major slip up by Keith. He didn’t even realize he was doing it until it was too late, too used to watching movies with Allura and Shiro who already knew. Chris Evans stuck an excellent landing, the angle showing a perfect shot of his ass, and before he knew it Keith had let slip “Oh no, I’m gay.”

 

Lance’s eyes went wide and he slaps Keith’s arm. Keith is terrified that he’s just ruined this friendship with someone other than his brother and his girlfriend. Shiro would tell him he doesn’t need friends scared of his gayness, but he fears this was a grave mistake and curses alcohol and his loose lips. Shakily he manages to ask “What?”

 

“Dude! Okay. You wanna know why my ex was like, the worst?” Lance is slurring his words some and leaning in a bit too far, the smell of rum heavy on his lips, and this definitely wasn’t where Keith thought this conversation was going but he’s glad that he hasn’t lost a potential friend.

 

“Sure?”

 

“So, like, I’m bi, right?” Lance says this like it’s as casual as the weather like it’s something anyone could observe, and Keith is a little shook. “Well, she was always convinced I would wake up gay or whatever.”

 

“Which is total bullshit.”

 

“I know!” Lance exclaims, throwing his hands in the air. “But when I went missing the other night she sure I had cheated on her, which I would never fucking do, and when she found out it was a dude’s dorm I crashed she was sold on her ‘wake up gay’ theory.”

 

“And that’s why she broke up with you?”

 

“You know it.”

 

“I’m gonna fight her.”

 

“Don’t fight her.”

 

“Too late, gloves are off,” and by gloves he apparently meant shirt.

 

“Dude,” Lance laughed. “You wear actual gloves, why did you take your shirt off?”

 

“I feel more naked without the gloves,” he admits, which Lance finds absolutely hilarious. Keith credits the warmth in his chest to how long it’s been since he actually got drunk or hung out with someone other than Shiro, and definitely  _ not _ to the fact that Lance has the most wonderful laugh he’d ever heard. “Hey.”

 

“Yeah, dude?” He’s wiping a stray tear from laughing so hard away from his eye.

 

“You should add me to that list. Your list of friends.”

 

Lance’s smile is blinding as he demands they exchange numbers.

 

The night continues with Scott Pilgrim vs The World, and by the end of it, Keith has fallen asleep on Lance, still shirtless. Even if he really doesn’t want to move this incredibly attractive boy from his side, Lance manages to scoop him up and stumble into his room without too much trouble despite his state. He gently places Keith in his bed and tucks him in, taking a few moments just to appreciate him, before taking his place in Hunk’s old room.


	3. Just us, and your friend Steve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here comes a new challenger! Hunk!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's so hard not to make this Hunk/Keith/Lance you have no idea how many things got edited out because it was just Keith being gay over Hunk and his big strong arms.
> 
> Title is from You, Me, and Steve by Garfunkle and Oates because I feel like that's Lance and Hunk's friendship.

Keith is very surprised to wake up in his own bed. Partially because he didn’t think Lance was strong enough to carry him. He’s also a little surprised to find he’s shirtless, having forgotten temporarily the events of last night. As he remembers, his face heats, thinking he’d acted rather foolish. Not bothering to put on a new shirt, Keith makes his way out to the living room slash open kitchen, only to find he was not alone.

 

Lance is digging around in his fridge when he sees him. “Dude, your fridge is like, barren. Do you live on take out and hot sauce?”

 

“I mean...kinda?” Keith winces. He doesn’t normally have people digging through his fridge and is a little embarrassed at how little he has in there. Not due to lack of funds, mind you. He just never  _ makes _ food.

 

“Bro. Unacceptable.”

 

Lance leads him out of the freshman dorms and over to the sophomore dorms, to his dorm. His real dorm. Keith texts his brother about his newly acquired frat-boy friend.

 

_ Takashi: frat boyfriend? ;* _

_ Keith: no. hell no. i will stab you if you suggest it again. _

_ Takashi: allura wants pics of your new bae _

_ Keith: I hate both of you _

 

“Welcome to the Casa De Lance, please, please, no pictures,” Lance introduces as the door swings open. The dorm is...surprisingly clean and well kept. The furniture is even nicer than Keith’s, all plush and pristine white faux leather with blue and yellow throw pillows. The walls have a tasteful amount of posters and art hanging on them without going overboard, unlike Keith’s room, which was practically wallpapered in band posters.

 

They find more of that amazing chowder in the fridge and heat up two bowls, eating in post-night-of-drinking silence, when a mountain of a man comes in.

 

“Lance, please be wearing clothes this time.”

 

“Aww, babe, you were thinking about me,” Lance replies in a sickly sweet tone that Keith bristles at. He doesn’t quite understand why and decides that his brain isn’t functioning enough yet for him to really dwell on it. They’re talking about something when the other guy finally turns to Keith.

 

“Sorry, Lance doesn’t have any manners. I’m sure you knew that already. Hey, I’m Hunk.” Hunk extends a hand that absolutely dwarfs Keith’s, and is surprisingly gentle in shaking his hand.

 

“Hi, I’m Keith--wait. Your name is actually Hunk? I thought that was like, a pet name.”

 

Hunk thinks this is hilarious and moves to get out his wallet. Sure enough, his student ID reads HUNK GARRETT. While Keith is busy wrapping his head around someone naming their kid Hunk, he notices what it is they’re eating. “Another poor soul falls victim to my baked potato chowder, I see.”

 

“Bruh,” Lance whines.

 

“Yeah, it’s great,” Keith blinks, his tone falsely sweet as he hands back Hunk’s wallet. “Except for the part where Lance lied to me and told me he made it.”

 

Hunk laughs again, and Keith wonders how it doesn’t shake the room. “Lance can’t cook to save his life! That’s why I made so much food before I left.”

 

“Hey now, I can bake.”

 

“Yeah, and I’m sure you would have eaten cake for two weeks if I didn’t provide for this family.”

 

Keith decides he likes Hunk. It’s refreshing to see someone giving Lance shit right back.

 

_ Allura: when are you introducing your father and me to your new boyfriend? _

_ Keith: omg fuck off _

_ Keith: he’s practically married to his room mate _

 

Wait.

 

Lance did mention that he and Hunk shared a dorm before, and it’s pretty rare to get the same roommate two years running. Lance had a girlfriend, but maybe he and Hunk had some sort of open, poly relationship going at the same time. While Keith is internally jumping to conclusions, Lance runs to his room to plug in his phone and change.

 

What Keith wants to say is: “Are you and Lance dating?”

 

What Keith actually says is: “So, you’ve seen Lance naked?”

 

There is a new text from Shiro, but Keith is too horrified by what has just come out of his mouth to read it. Hunk sees this and has a moment of realization about Keith that he hasn’t had about himself yet. Casually, he replies “Yeah, have you?”

 

Keith sputters and turns a bright shade of red. “No!”

 

“You should try it sometime,” Hunk winks.

 

Keith, having died inside, decides to awkwardly check his phone instead of responding.

Takashi: don’t talk to ur mom that way young man >:(

Keith: im running away i hate this family

 

Lance jogs back up to them, peering over Keith’s shoulder at his phone. “Who ya’ talking to?”

 

Keith sighs, exasperated. “My brother and his girlfriend.”

 

Hunk is looking between them, giving them a look with wiggly eyebrows. Keith ignores it.

 

“Are they cute?” Lance asks.

 

“They. Are. Dating!”

 

Lance waves it off. “Hasn’t stopped me in the past.”

 

“Woah!” Hunk exclaims from across the counter.

 

“I know! Inappropriate, Lance!”

 

“No, I mean ‘woah’ I just Facebook stalked you and Lance look who his brother is!” Hunk leans over and shows Lance Keith’s mostly barren profile.

 

Keith is a little mortified and a lot impressed with how quickly Hunk did that with as little information as he had.

 

“Dude!” Lance slaps his arm. “Your brother is Shiro?!”

 

“I mean, I’m adopted, but yeah.”

 

Lance is clutching his shirt like he might have a heart attack. “Oh god, that means his girlfriend is Allura?!”

 

“You can look right at his profile.”

 

“You don’t understand,” Lance fists his hands in his hair. “My freshman year I hit on Allura! I was super drunk and way too pushy and I honestly die of embarrassment every time I see her.”

 

_ Keith: it’s Lance McClain. _

_ Keith: still want to meet him?  _

 

“What are you texting them? You’re telling Allura I’m creepy aren’t you?”

 

“You did break into his dorm. Twice.”

 

_ Allura: doesn’t ring any bells. you should invite him to the party! <3 _

_ Keith: nooooo then I have to go, too _

_ Shiro: you have to go anyway _

_ Keith: >:( _

 

Keith figures since he has to go anyway, he might as well have people there to talk to other than Shiro. “So...you guys free Friday night?”


	4. Tell me how you feel about me/Tell me how you really feel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is from Like or Like Like by Minature Tigers
> 
> Okay so since there's Shallura in this chapter, here's everyone's ages in this fic:  
> Shiro - 23  
> Allura - 19  
> Lance - 19  
> Keith - 20  
> Hunk - 19  
> Pidge - 15  
> Matt - 23
> 
> Lance got the alcohol before by bringing Matt with him, and ordering him mozzarella sticks.

_ Hunk: hey, question _

_ Keith: answer _

_ Hunk: do you care if we bring Pidge? they can’t drink but they want to ogle football players and kick their asses in beer pong _

_ Keith: yeah man that’s cool _

 

Keith did not know or care if that was true, he was still salty over the fact that he had to go at all. And also extremely nervous for some reason. He compulsively shaved all his body hair and was watching makeup tutorials (both habits he could thank his brother for), a ritual usually reserved for when Shiro or Allura have set him up on a date he knows he’s going to bomb. All that’s missing is ice cream, but he still hadn’t gone shopping since he last saw Lance. He did, however, take some of Hunk’s extra food home. Boy knew how to cook.

 

_ Lance: knock knock _

 

Fuck. Keith pauses the video and answers the door. Outside there is Lance, Hunk, and a third person Keith assumes to be Pidge. 

 

“Glad it’s okay because we totally forgot to ask before,” Hunk admits sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

 

“It’s no problem,” It’s kind of a problem. Not really them bringing someone else, but that Keith had been unable to focus for more than 5 seconds, and now this stranger was seeing him in his pajamas.

 

Lance gasps and shoves at presumed-Pidge’s face. “Bro, dibs!”

 

“Di--oh, fuck you!”

 

Lance squeezes past Keith and makes a mad dash for his old room, Keith’s current room. Probably-Pidge wedges their way in, too, yelling something about supervision. Hunk is the only fucking polite one, and Keith gives a small bow as he lets him in, which he nods back to. They both go to see what is happening in Keith’s room.

 

Lance is rummaging through Keith’s closet as the case may be.

 

“He claimed dibs on dressing you,” Hunk explains.

 

“What if I reject his outfit choice and decide to just go in this?” Keith grins at Lance’s distraught face.

 

“Absolutely not!” Lance squawks. He pulls out a pair of black jeans with holes all down the legs and tosses them on the bed. Done with the closet, for now, Lance moves on to the dresser. He only pulls the top drawer open about an inch before Keith slams it shut, nearly shutting Lance’s fingers in it in the process. “Dude, what th--”

 

“Don’t go in that one.”

 

The look Lance gives him is confused at first, but when he looks to Hunk for an explanation only to get an eyebrow wiggle in response, he seems of get it with a small squeak of embarrassment. He picks out the rest of Keith’s outfit, a soft gray t-shirt and a red flannel, under strict supervision. Keith then shoos all three of them out of his room to get dressed.

 

When he comes out Lance immediately gets up. “No, no, no, no, you’re wearing it wrong. Here, let me--” Before Keith can register what’s happening or do anything to stop it, Lance has his hands on him, pushing the flannel off his shoulders. He then wrapped his arms around Keith’s middle, seeming not to care about their close proximity, and tied it around his waist.

 

“Didn’t this go out of style like twenty years ago?” He says instead of reaching up to brush hair behind Lance’s ear. Lance finally gives him room to breathe.

 

“Yeah, well, so did your mullet, but grunge looks good on you, so it works.”

 

Before Keith decides if he’s offended or flattered, Pidge speaks up. “Hey! Who’s this pretty man on your TV?”

 

“Oh hey I know him, thats Manny Mua!” Hunk replies and Keith feels his heart hit his gut. Immediately he fumbles with his phone to stop casting to his tv before they can mock him for watching makeup tutorials.

 

“Don’t you want to finish watching?” Pidge asks quietly.

 

“Yeah man, we got time.” Hunk adds, and Keith notices there’s no malice in either of their voices.

Before he can answer Lance snatches his phone and hits play.

 

Keith grabs his phone back, and all of them settle in to watch the rest of the tutorial in silence. When that video ends, Hunk points out another interesting one, and then Lance picks one, and before they know it they’ve watched four more videos before they actually get up to leave.

 

The walk to Shiro’s frat house is short enough that they really don’t have to worry about anyone driving home tonight, which was good because the only one with plans to stay sober was Pidge and they were too young to even have a permit.

 

Shiro answers the door grinning. “Keith! So which of these is your--”

 

Oh wow how did Keith’s whole hand get in Shiro’s mouth? It is a mystery. Pidge is undeterred by this development.

 

“Hi! I’m Pidge, I’m a sophomore, and yes, I am a bit young to be one.”

 

The look in Shiro’s eyes says he has already adopted Pidge.

 

Lance tries to and mostly succeeds in not being seen by hiding behind Hunk, who is happily introducing himself to Shiro. He welcomes them all in, leading Pidge by the shoulders into the kitchen. “Allura! Come meet our new son!”

 

“Is it Keith’s boyfriend?” Allura calls back from the oven where she is pulling out the last of four pies.

 

“Keith doesn’t have a boyfriend,” Keith spits back.

 

“Keith will be nice to his mother,” Shiro warns.

 

Keith looks at Shiro, unafraid. “I’ll tell our real mom about what really happens in this frat house.”   
  


Shiro gasps. “You wouldn’t!”

 

Pidge had already introduced himself to Allura, and it was obvious she also loved him right from the start. When she turns to the other two and notices the weird one hiding behind the human wall. He tries to hide further behind Hunk more solidly, but his cover is summoned over to Shiro, leaving Lance vulnerable to Allura’s scrutinizing gaze. They lock eyes and it’s immediately obvious she knows who he is and that she knows he knows she knows. 

 

But for whatever reason, she pretends not to.

 

“You must be Keith’s--”

There is a Look from Keith.

 

“--friend! I’ve heard a lot about you. Well, I’m lucky you’re so tall! Could you and Keith hand up the banner for me?”

 

Lance practically falls over himself to repay her for “forgetting” him. Keith is hit with a wave of...something. Something bad. He grabs the banner and Lance and pulls him toward the stairs. “Hope you don’t have a problem with heights!”

 

They go through Shiro’s room and out his window to get on the roof. That’s when Lance starts gushing. “I can’t believe she’s so cool! I mean, I was a total ass, she has every right to hate me, but she’s just giving me a second chance for no real reason.”

 

“She’s alright,” oops, that was bitter. Way more bitter than Keith meant.

 

“Woah, dude...are you jealous?”

 

“What! No!” He is though. He recognizes the feeling from earlier now as jealousy. There’s a lump forming in his throat.

 

“You ARE!” Lance points. “You think she’s taking Shiro away, don’t you?”

 

“Huh. I just realized how easy it would be to push you off the roof right now.”

 

“Rude.”

 

They head back in, and Keith thinks Lance has dropped it, but since when is Lance in the habit of letting things go? 

 

“You should tell him,” Lance places his hand on Keith’s shoulder and squeezes it.

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

“You should talk to your brother about how you feel.”

 

“That’s not--” Keith pinches the bridge of his nose. “I’m not jealous about Allura spending time with Shiro! I’m upset because,” Suddenly, Keith’s stomach is full of cement. Because Lance was all about pleasing her. Because he’s just now realizing he might have feelings for Lance.

 

“Because..?”

 

“You know what, there’s no point in lying to you, Lance.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Allways Sunny Title Card: Keith Lies To Lance
> 
> As always hmu at nickiminajpooping.tumblr.com

**Author's Note:**

> talk to me about this fic/anything Voltron  
> nickiminajpooping.tumblr.com


End file.
